Best sunnies ?

mb london

I am sure this has been asked before, probably to death but im at work and don’t have a great deal of time to do a search. I am interested in people’s opinions as to what is the best sunnies for the trails.

I have been wearing an old bolle pair and they are just too dark and bloody dangerous when hammering it in shady areas.

I have just had a nice tax rebate so don’t mind chucking some cash a decent pair.

Thanks

Chunkers1980

Oakley Jawbone.

milko9000

I think in the past twelve months I can think of one time where I got the sun in my eyes to any bothersome degree. So clear lenses, IMO. On the other hand I did crash in Summer Lightning when I was trying out some shades, couldn't see the bottom of the damn corner.

Gazlar

Faux-ley Jawbones from deal extreme, in the fact that they cost about a tenner

njee20

On the other hand I did crash in Summer Lightning when I was trying out some shades, couldn't see the bottom of the damn corner.

Were they opaque? Even before they felled it it was hardly dark! There's not any dodgy corners either!

I prefer my Radars to my Jawbones, photochromic Radars would get my vote.

TheEnglishman

Maui Jim's

Absolutely fantastic - comfy, great glare protection and nicely different from the masses of Oakley fakes you see around :P

Oh Marone

What do you guys think of these ? http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k970/a61708/twist-three-2-0-vl-black.html

Chunkers1980

I think they look German.

supersonic

Depends what style you are after, but a good range at Red Frog such as:

http://www.redfrogstore.co.uk/virage-ra ... 1016-p.asp

Optical grade poly lenses, are decent quality stuff.

Oh Marone

Simillar in style to my RayBans that I bought about 15 years ago, but was really interested what you thought of the orange lenses for trails etc. Should be alot lighter and comfier than my RayBans and are photochromic as well. Trying to buy a Radon6 from them with the sunnies and a shock pump as I would only pay the shipping costs for the bike, instead of on each item. Bit of a problem with their shops payment verification system when trying to order on Wednesday and am waiting for them to ring me back. Just thought I would ask as looked a good deal with the bike.

quattrojames

I'm very pleased with my Endura Pirannha's. The only criticism being they're not quite dark enough on a bright day.

The Northern Monkey

Got mine from boots..

Make was Ironman, fit great, polarised, £35.

paul.skibum

I use Ryders - photochromatic, light tint, in glaring sun they darken a bit, in flickering light they are just lightly tinted, not too dark for woods, never too light for the glare - they were under $70 so if you can get 'em in UK theyd be cheapish I imagine.

WhipIt

I use flak jackets with clear, high contrast ("persimmon") and polarised lenses. Clear at night, sunnies on the road bike (occasionally) and hi contrast at all other times. Interchangeable lenses have been amazing , I know radar and jawbone have this, too.

northpole

I have emerald green tinted jawbone transitions with prescription which are fantastic - look a bit daft, but give great vision.
I've also tried a pair of the Assos glasses with contacts. Only worn them once and kind of like the fact they seem to weigh nothing, they provide even better field of vision than the jawbone, and rather than having photoreaction lenses, they have a gradient tint which allows you to tilt your head a bit and immediately have a clear view ahead if you are ducking in and out of the shade - something which because it happens so quickly, the transitions cannot react to in time to help. Downside is they cost a packet and they look even dafter than the jawbones!

Peter

chiefinspector

+1 for the flak jackets. I have been using these for about a year and rate them very highly. The jawbones look like the lenses interchange more easily but i'm not a huge fan of how they look. Can't go much wrong with anything from Oakley though.

mb london

Thanks for the feedback and opinions, think I'll go and do my dough on some oakleys . It's interesting though, spoke to a couple of trustable retailers over the last couple of days and the all agree that I should steer well clear of polarised lenses if my game is mountin biking

adm1

Personally, I hate the look of Oakleys. Too much plastic. Too much "American" styling

I've always been a big fan of Revos (the styles with the small metal frames) for the absolute bang-on optical clarity they give - better than anything else I have tried. However, I recently bought a pair of Ray Ban "Tech Series" sunnies that are awesome. They have a really thin carbon fibre (what's not to like?) frame, with excellent lenses. As good as the Revos in terms of optics, bigger lenses so you aren't looking over them at times when you are head down. And they weigh about 20g. They are a new line from Ray Ban and well worth a look as cycling glasses.

I also quite like the look of the Rudy Project "Rydon" glasses - but haven't tried them.

Finally, the Assos glasses are meant to be the dog's danglies, but they are twice the price of everything else, and look strange.

adm1

mb london wrote:

Thanks for the feedback and opinions, think I'll go and do my dough on some oakleys . It's interesting though, spoke to a couple of trustable retailers over the last couple of days and the all agree that I should steer well clear of polarised lenses if my game is mountin biking

One other thing....not sure why you should steer clear of polarised if you are mountain biking. Assos say something about this on their marketing blurb for their non polarised glasses, but I still don't get it myself. AFAIK, polarised lenses let you see better through water (which is why they are popular for fishing) by cutting down glare, so theoretically, you should have a better idea how deep any water is before you hit it.

May be wrong here, but I cant's really see a downside.

mb london

The retailers I spoke to suggested that polarised lenses have less sense of depth than non polorised lenses. If this is true ( and there is no reason why I should question theses people, especially when you think that polorised lenses are generally more expensive) then is exactly what I am after as the current bolle's I wear I like death traps

adm1

mb london wrote:

The retailers I spoke to suggested that polarised lenses have less sense of depth than non polorised lenses. If this is true ( and there is no reason why I should question theses people, especially when you think that polorised lenses are generally more expensive) then is exactly what I am after as the current bolle's I wear I like death traps

There may well be an optician or somebody like that on here who can weigh in with a definitive answer....I used to be an electronic engineer, not an optical one, so my opinion is essentially worthless. I'd like to know for sure.

I do like my polarised Revos andRay Bans though.....

TBH - I'd look mainly at how much the frame obstructs your view in various riding positions, and the overall clarity of the lens.

felix.london

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Oakley Jawbone.

+1

Anonymous

I've been sticking with Madison D'arcs for ages. Triple lenses, keep bugs out of my eyes (and stops them getting behind my contacts which is where things get nasty), clear is just clear, yellow brightens a dull day up and shades are, well just shades, they do the job. £30 or less for the lot.

Downside is they scratch easily. Positive is if you lose a lens or any part of the frame you can get cheap replacement parts. They're also designed so the arms pop off rather than snap something if you sit on them or crash.

Not the best in the world, but they do the job, much like safety Bolles, and I've bust up too many expensive specs to be bothered to spend a fortune on a cool brand name.

Paul 8v

Oakley jawbones with Iridium, Persimmon and Clear lenses. You#ll have all bases covered there. Easy to swap over too. When ever I've bought cheap sunglasses it's really been false economy as they've died. Also with the Oakleys I'd be more confidednt about the strength of the lenses. If you've got a set of fakelys I'd not be too confident about them not shattering/breaking if a stone hit me in the face, with the Oakleys I've got a bit more confidence, you only get one set of eyes...

That said the cheaper Bolle's etc should be saftey rated and will do the trick, I wear a pair for airsoft and they've had loads of shots just ping off them, they just might not have the same fancy lenses as the oakleys. I've found the Oakleys to be good even when it's not great light as they aren't like the cheapy fashion sunglasses that just make everyhting dark so you can't see anything!